Blue Origin to fly AI-powered space surveillance sensor on 1st flight of Blue Ring spacecraft

Blue Origin has announced a partnership with Scout Space, a company focused on orbital domain awareness and safety in space. Scout's Owl sensor will be the first payload to fly on Blue Origin's Blue Ring spacecraft, integrating the advanced space domain awareness (SDA) sensor into the payload delivery vehicle.

The mission is expected to launch in Spring 2026, and will deliver the Owl sensor to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), before the instrument transitions to operational activities in geostationary orbit (GEO).

Blue Ring is Blue Origin's modular, multi-destination satellite bus, with the ability to support up to 13 payloads across multiple ports. Blue Ring can carry up to 8,800 pounds (4,000 kilograms) of mission cargo and is designed for high maneuverability. The spacecraft is capable of launching into a variety of destinations in Earth orbit and can also go to deep space — to the moon and Mars, for example.

The spacecraft will launch on Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket, which lifted off for the first time in January 2025. That mission reached orbit with a pathfinder version of Blue Ring meant to validate the spacecraft's mechanics and avionics. The upcoming Owl sensor integration will be the platform's first operational flight.

Blue Ring's 2026 mission aims to demonstrate the spacecraft's capabilities while the onboard Owl sensor supports national security and commercial interests in space situational awareness.

"Integrating Scout’s Owl sensor on this first mission marks a significant step forward in advancing SDA capabilities and underscores our commitment to supporting the nation’s mission requirements," Paul Ebertz, senior vice president of Blue Origin’s In-Space Systems business unit, said in a statement.

The Owl sensor is designed to detect, track and characterize objects in orbit — including satellites, debris and other space flotsam — from long distances to support SDA initiatives. Owl is powered by artificial intelligence to autonomously identify and classify threats or anomalies.

On this mission, the sensor will support the U.S. Space Force's goal to maintain space superiority, according to the Blue Origin release.

The partnership highlights Blue Origin's growing focus on missions in support of national security and U.S. dominance in space amid growing orbital congestion and geopolitical tensions around orbital real estate.

"We've always believed that no single company can bring the best space superiority capabilities to the market alone," Scout Space CEO Philip Hover-Smoot said in the release. "We’re thrilled to work with Blue Origin to bring Scout’s secure solutions onboard this historic first Blue Ring mission."